Experts panel proposes change of all crest gates of Tungabhadra dam

ANANTAPUR: The Experts Committee on Tungabhadra dam safety has proposed changing all the crest gates of the dam, which would involve a cost of Rs 256 crore.

Karnataka has to share 55 per cent and combined AP the rest 45 per cent of the expenditure for fixing new gates for the interstate project, the panel proposed.

The Tungabhadra Board constituted the experts panel headed by AK Bajaj, former chairman of the Central Water Commission. Its other members were dam experts Harkesh Kumar, Tarapuram Sudhakar and representatives of technical consultative committees of Karnataka, AP and TS.

Their brief was to examine the current safety status of the TB dam gates following the washing away of the19th gate in the river last month. The committee examined various aspects and is expected to submit its report by Sept 15 to the Tungabhadra Board.

Sources said the expert committee came to a conclusion that all gates should be replaced as they have served the purpose for 70 years. No gates were replaced since the construction of the TB dam, the panel noted.

Normally, the life span of such gates is 45 years. The 19th gate washed away in the river due to alleged poor maintenance of its chain links.

A stop log gate was fixed the other day to stop water leakage from the reservoir and it constantly maintained the full storage capacity of about 101.77tmc-ft.

The experts committee also proposed an increase to the height of the gates. The replacement of new gates can be taken up during the dry season when there is less water in the dam, it said.

This being an interstate project, participant Karnataka has to share 55 per cent of the costs while AP and TS 45 per cent towards erection of new gates and other works.

Of the 45 per cent share, AP must pay more than TS because it is using maximum water from TB dam through the High Level Main Canal and Low Level Main Canal while the TS gets a part of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme water.

TD politburo member and Rayadurg MLA Kalava Sreenivasulu said the government will act immediately after it gets the experts panel report. “Whether the experts suggest replacement of all 33 gates at a time or in phases is not clear,” he said.

CPIM state committee member K Rambhoopal claimed that the experts noticed a big hole closer to the 22nd gate, which signified the dam's "lack of safety."